National Science Day 2020: Five path-breaking Indian women excelling in medical science

Every year, 28th Feb is observed as National Science Day in India. This day is celebrated to commemorate the discovery of the ‘Raman effect’ by the renowned Indian physicist Sir CV Raman on February 28, 1928. He received a Nobel prize for the same discovery in the year 1930.   This year the theme for the National Science Day is ‘women in science’. In a country that hasn’t always given women the same opportunities as men, women have outscored men in various fields time and again. Despite the disadvantages, they’ve excelled and managed to make a mark in the field of medicine as well. For instance, Dr Anandibai Joshi was India’s first woman doctor to be trained in western medicine in the year 1885.     [caption id=“attachment_7841821” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image.[/caption] Here are five such Indian women who have changed the face of medicine:

1. Dr Sivaramakrishna Iyer Padmavati

Dr Iyer is often called ‘the god of cardiology’ in India. She has been treating people for more than 60 years now. Dr Iyer completed her MBBS from the Rangoon Medical College and then went to London for further studies in the year 1949. After coming to India in 1954, Dr Iyer set up India’s first cardiology clinic and founded India’s first heart foundation aimed at spreading the awareness about heart health. She was the one to set up the cardiology department in renowned hospitals like Maulana Azad Medical College and GB Pant Hospital. Dr Iyer was bestowed with Padma Vibhushan in the year 1992. Because of her love for medicine, she serves as the director of the National Heart Institute, Delhi, even at the age of 102 years.

2. Dr Indira Hinduja

Dr Indira Hinduja is an Indian gynaecologist, obstetrician and infertility specialist. She is a pioneer of Gamete Intrafallopian Transfer (GIFT) technique, where the sperm of the male are fused with the egg of the female in a lab and then implanted in the female womb. By using this technique Dr Hinduja was able to deliver India’s first GIFT baby, also called the ‘test-tube baby’, in 1988. She is the first doctor to develop a technique where healthy women can donate their eggs to the patients of premature ovary failure and she delivered a baby with this technique in 1991.  

3. Dr Neelam Kler

The Padma Bhushan awardee, Dr Neelam Kler is our country’s finest neonatologist, a specialist for newborn babies. In her career span of more than 30 years, she has saved many premature babies weighing less than 1000 gms at birth. She was the one to set up the neonatal department in Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Delhi. She developed neonatal care measures in such a way that it improved the chance of survival of preterm (premature) babies by 90%. She has also worked upon improving women’s health in India by launching various health programs and interventions.

4. Dr Jayashree Mondkar

Dr Jayashree Mondkar is an Indian neonatologist, who is running Asia’s first Human Milk Bank from the past 28 years in the SION hospital, Mumbai. A mother’s milk provides necessary nutrients and immunity to the newborn required for survival. Due to some medical complications, some women are unable to produce milk after giving birth. That’s when the Human Milk Bank comes into action and provides milk to the newborn.

5. Dr Shashi Wadhwa

Dr Shashi Wadhwa is the professor of anatomy and ex-dean of India’s most prestigious medical institution, All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS). She has been studying the gradual development of the human brain to manage the learning and speech disorders in children. She has 37 national research papers and 67 International research papers published under her name. For more information, read our article on   Heart Diseases_._ Health articles in Firstpost are written by myUpchar.com, India’s first and biggest resource for verified medical information. At myUpchar, researchers and journalists work with doctors to bring you information on all things health.